Maryland's Mike Chanenchuk, left, is a junior so he will have a chance to face Duke again as an ACC rival before the school leaves for the Big Ten in 2014. / Bob DeChiara, US PRESSWIRE

by Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY Sports

by Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY Sports

As with most recent college conference realignment decisions, Maryland's move from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten was primarily football-driven.

But there will be ripple effects in other sports. Most notably, the ACC will lose perennial national title contenders in the flagship spring sports of men's and women's lacrosse.

On the men's side, Maryland has reached the last two NCAA title games. Though only four ACC schools sponsor the sport, all can claim at least one national championship in the NCAA era.

The Terrapins have staged some epic battles with their closest league rival, Virginia, most notably a record-setting seven-OT win by the Cavaliers in 2009. The ACC will add another powerhouse program in Syracuse for the 2014 season, but the loss of the Terrapins will still hurt.

"I've only been here two years. In some respects I feel like I just got here," says Terrapins men's coach John Tillman. "We're sensitive to the traditions of Maryland lacrosse and who we've played and those rivalries. At the same time we've got to do everything we can to make the Maryland lacrosse program the best we can be and compete for championships. Those goals don't change, and now we're going to have more resources at our discretion that we haven't had in the past."

The sport has less of a historic foothold in the Big Ten.

Only three current league schools have varsity men's lacrosse. Michigan played its first varsity season this past spring to join Ohio State and Penn State. The Wolverines will play their first season in 2013 as full members of the ECAC, in which the Buckeyes also compete. The Nittany Lions are affiliate members of the Colonial Athletic Association for lacrosse.

The arrival of Maryland and Rutgers bring more lacrosse-playing members to the Big Ten, which still will be one short of the required six for automatic qualification for the NCAA tournament. The Terrapins might be better served to go independent, like in-state rival Johns Hopkins, to maintain the necessary schedule strength for at-large consideration.

But Maryland and Rutgers do have something in common that might make the sport attractive to Big Ten planners, possibly serving as incentive for another member to start a program. Both schools have large stadiums near big metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Both have served as Final Four hosts before the event moved into NFL venues, and both remain attractive sites for opening-round and quarterfinal events.

"I think the fact that we can host if we did have a Big Ten Conference might bring a little more exposure," Tillman says. "If we can ever do anything to help the sport grow or expand at any level, we'd try to do that."

All this, of course, is still two years down the road. There have as yet been no lacrosse-related discussions with Big Ten administrators.

"If we were talking spring of 2013 we'd probably be talking with them more aggressively about making those kinds of arrangements," Tillman says. "We'll certainly have those discussions, and I'm sure athletic administrators all over the country are having those sorts of talks internally today about what the next steps should be for them."

The Maryland women, with 10 NCAA championships, figure to be an even bigger loss to the ACC. The Big Ten doesn't officially sponsor women's lacrosse, either, but might now do so with the arrival of the Terrapins. They'd be a natural challenger for Northwestern, the dominant program of the past decade with six national championships.